Trick-or-Treat, Dragon Style
by StBridget
Summary: Taking a baby dragon trick-or-treating can be quite an undertaking. AU Dragon verse.


Hawaii Five-0 is property of CBS and its creators.

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"Okay, Danno. Steffie's ready to go."

Danny took one look at the baby dragon trailing his daughter Grace down the stairs and shook his head. "Oh, no, no, no. Not like that. She's supposed to be a princess, not a dragon."

"But she _is_ a princess, Danno," Grace protested. "Look."

Danny looked. He had to admit Steffie was, indeed, dressed as a princess. She had a crown precariously perched on her little dragon head, and Grace had somehow found a sparkly pink princess dress—intended for a dog, Danny assumed- she'd managed to shove the baby dragon into. Rhinestone necklaces adorned Steffie's neck, and Grace had even painted Steffie's nails with pink glitter polish. There was just one problem. "She's supposed to be a _human_ princess," Danny pointed out.

"But _why_?" Grace whined. "She looks adorable like this. And it's a _dragon_ daycare party. They won't care if she's a dragon."

Danny looked to his husband for help. "She's got you there, Danny," Steve said. "The flyer specifically said dragons welcome."

"So does that mean I can go as a dragon?" Their five-year-old son Matt piped up.

" _No!_ " Danny said adamantly.

Matt pouted. "But if Steffie can, why can't I?"

"Because Steffie's three feet, and you're 10. You wouldn't fit in the car. Besides," Danny said more reasonably, "if you're a dragon, you couldn't wear your cop outfit. I thought you wanted to be a cop for Halloween." It was true—Matt had talked about nothing else in the weeks leading up to Halloween. In fact, his current goal was to be on the Five-0 task force just like his daddies. Danny hoped he'd grow out of it, but was secretly proud his son wanted to follow in his footsteps.

Matt seemed to accept the argument. "Okay," he said.

Danny sighed in relief. "Let's get this show on the road." He gathered up Steffie's jack-o-lantern bucket, Matt's jack-o-lantern bucket, Matt's jacket, Steffie's jacket (not that she'd need it as a dragon), his jacket, Steve's jacket, Grace's jacket, the diaper bag, the bag of snacks (not that that was necessary either with the amount of junk they'd collect), the flashlights, and the bag of assorted items Steve deemed necessary on an outing (Danny was afraid to ask). He shoved the three bags at Steve. "A little help here, SuperSeal."

Steve took the bags graciously and led his little family out to the mini-van they'd bought after Steffie's birth. Danny wasn't giving up his Camaro, and Steve was just as stubborn about his Silverado, and after Danny had gotten Grace her own car (actually his old Camaro—she drove the spiffiest car at school, even with the elite private school she went to), Grace refused to give it up for a mini-van, so, as Danny would point out (vociferously), they now had more cars than people to drive them. It didn't bother Steve, though. He just pointed out they could more than afford them. They didn't even have loans on any of them.

After some juggling, everybody was belted into their seat, booster seat, or car seat, and the group was ready to roll. Steve drove them sedately to where Little Puffer's Daycare, the daycare Steffie attended, was having their Trunk-or-Treat event. For all his complaining about Steve's driving, Danny had to admit he was nothing but careful when the kids were in the car.

Once there, the process was reversed, Danny, Steve, and Grace working to get the two younger kids and all their gear out of the car. As soon as she was set on the ground, Steffie made a beeline for one of the cars, diving into the trunk and burrowing her snout in candy.

"Steffie, no!" Danny shouted, horrified. He raced over to lift her out.

One of the aides, Mia, got there first. She lifted Steffie out and passed her to Danny, laughing. "It's okay. She's not the first and she won't be the last. That's why we got plenty of candy."

"Still, it's bad manners." Danny looked at his daughter, a piece of candy dangling from her mouth. He tapped her on the nose. "Drop it." Instead, she swallowed it, wrapper and all. Danny sighed.

Steve, Danny, and Grace led Matt and Steffie around to the various cars. There was not only candy of all sorts, but sparkly beads and marbles and necklaces (dragons, of course, love sparkly things). At each car, Steffie studiously studied the offerings and carefully selected the exact one she wanted. Matt was far less particular, happily accepting whatever he was given. He refused the necklaces as "too girly", but happily accepted extra marbles. There was, however, a tense moment when Steffie took a shine to a large, sparkly marble Matt had and snatched it out of his hand with her jaws. Matt promptly burst into tears.

"Steffie! Bad girl!" Danny admonished. "Give it back, right now!" Instead, Steffie took off across the parking lot, her prize clutched in her mouth.

"I'll get her, Danno," Grace said, taking off after the baby dragon as Danny and Steve tried to soothe a distraught Matt.

Steffie led Grace a merry chase. The infant couldn't fly yet, but she could flutter her wings enough to lift herself onto the hood of the parked cars and scamper across before leaping down to the trunk and launching herself back down to the ground, starling several kids and causing a number of them to shift as well, adding to the chaos. Grace was very glad Steffie was the only golden dragon and the only one dressed as a princess—it at least made her easy to spot, if not any easier to catch.

Steffie darted under one of the cars and crouched there, jealously guarding her prize. "Come on, Steffie, come out and bring it here," Grace coaxed. She reached her hand under the car, but Steffie just hissed. Grace sighed. This was going nowhere. She was too big to fit under the car, and Steffie wasn't going to come out until she was good and ready, which could take all night. Steffie was nothing if not stubborn. Danny and Steve would bicker about which one of them she got it from, but Grace knew she got it from both. In spades.

Grace had an idea. She went over and found an even bigger, sparklier marble, in pink, hands-down Steffie's favorite color. She crouched down and showed the marble to the dragon. "Look, Steffie, I'll trade you."

"Don't encourage her," Danny scolded.

"It's the only way we'll get her out, Danno, unless you want to spend the night here waiting for her to come out on her own," Grace said, reasonably.

Danny conceded the point. "Fine. Just don't make a habit of it. We don't want her to think she's going to get rewarded for stealing Matt's things."

Steffie studied the marble, clearly considering Grace's offer. Finally, she darted her head out, dropping the marble in her jaws in Grace's hand and snatching her new prize.

"Good girl," Grace praised. "Now, come on out."

Steffie hesitated, clearly afraid someone would take away her toy. "No one's going to take it," Grace assured her.

Finally, Steffie slowly came out. Danny snatched her up and held her close. "Gotcha. Now, come on, little missy. It's time to get you home."

Steffie mrrped in disappointment, and Matt pouted. "But we're not done yet!"

"Oh, yes, we are," Danny said firmly. "I think we've had quite enough excitement for one night."

"Until next year," Steve said.

Danny sighed. "Yeah, until next year."


End file.
